On Wednesday 31 May, the Member States approved the draft recommendation of the Council of the EU on strengthening social dialogue in the EU. The text will be adopted by the ‘Employment and Social Affairs’ Council on 12 June.
The recommendation, proposed in January (see EUROPE 13107/1), calls on the Member States to encourage and protect social dialogue in the EU, which encompasses “tripartite and bipartite consultation and negotiation, in the private and public sectors, at all levels, including dialogue at intersectoral, sectoral, company, national, regional or local level”.
The recommendation advocates respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining, and calls for the existence of “strong and independent trade unions and employers’ organisations to encourage constructive social dialogue”.
It is also a question of guaranteeing access to relevant information to enable social dialogue to succeed. Emphasis is also placed on the need to adapt social dialogue to the digital world of work and the energy transition.
The social partners should also be involved in a “systematic, meaningful and timely way in the development and implementation of employment and social policies and, where appropriate, other public and economic policies”, such as those related to the ‘European Semester’.
The autonomy of the social partners is also emphasised on several occasions.
Link to the recommendation: https://aeur.eu/f/754 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)